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Claira Nelder
Past Notes
May 29th, 2024
This was Claira's last lesson! I'll miss her!
We added a new song, Zach Bryan, Pink Skies - and went through it two or three times. At the end, she worked out the inversions to make it easier to play.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PV9ZN-9mHPU
May 22nd, 2024
Claira didn't come today.
May 15th, 2024
We added a new song today, Adele, Set Fire to the Rain:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFR9Wi3znTM
May 8th, 2024
Claira told me she'll be done lessons by the end of May, and won't be returning next year because of University.
We added three new songs today.
Noah Kahan, Stick Season
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWG6apzIWAk
Taylor Swift, The Archer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWfZ5bfQfSs
Tim McGraw, Highway Don't Care
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOdmkbmAzeE
May 1st, 2024
We worked on Red by Taylor Swift more today. We got up to the chorus.
April 24th, 2024
Claira had a dentist appointment today so was a bit late, but when we got here, we added a new song, Red by Taylor Swift (piano version):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zOXvQQaXDE
April 17th, 2024
Claira accidentally brought her chemistry book instead of music book, so we added a new song, Too Sweet, by Hoozier.
Claira was struggling with the rhythm of the left hand, so we decided to convert it into more of a ballad.
We worked out the inversions (she's getting better at figuring these out herself).
April 10th, 2024
We changed songs again and added Amy Winehouse, Back to Black:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tux7eKFZn30
April 3rd, 2024
Clair played through Lose Control, and then I wrote out, and we played through Billie Eilish, What Was I Made For.
March 27th, 2024
We reviewed her two new songs from last week, and then added a new one by Teddy Swims called Lose Control:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpDEdMu_6O8
March 20th, 2024
Claira added two new songs this week.
Gracie Abrams, I Miss You, I'm Sorry: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLKa7i103HE
Coldplay, Yellow: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7mlB-adMBc
March 13th, 2024
Away for March break
March 6th, 2024
Claira added a new song, and this one we did with a right-hand melody. This is Max McNown, A Lot More Free
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTI2fFzbQbs
February 28th, 2024
We played through Skin and Bones with the recording, and then added a new one, Olivia Rodrigo, Logical
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38ePj4Y7n4Y
This is a pretty one - we didn't get very far through it before running out of time.
February 21st, 2024
Claira wanted to add a new song today, so we added David Kushner, Skin and Bones:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dokpyXGTEZI
It's pretty easy, but the key is not an easy key to play in. I was impressed with how well Claira remembered the chords for this key, and even tried adding inversions.
February 14th, 2024
Jason is sick today, so cancelling lessons.
February 7th, 2024
We had no electricity in Claira's lesson. We played through the Home song for a while, but couldn't really listen to the original very well without the computer and speakers.
She instead played a bit of the last song, which she could remember better.
January 31st, 2024
Clair played through Beautiful Things - it sounded great. We then added a new one, called Home by Good Neighbours:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3fe8gZgxkA
January 24th, 2024
Claira played a bit of Wish You The Best, and then we added a new one called Beautiful Things by Benson Boone:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZx4n2bL-ak
January 17th, 2024
We went through Wish you the best, along with the recording.
Good job today!
January 10th, 2024
Clair wanted to add a new song, and found a great one called Wish You The Best by Lewis Capaldi:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1lZTgLasUY
Such a pretty, and fairly simple song to learn.
January 3rd, 2024
Claira is on a ski trip today.
December 28th, 2023
We continued working through Adele, Hello.
December 27th, 2023
Claira will be away visiting Grandma Nelder on December 27th.
December 20th, 2023
Claira played through Spotless for me, and then we added a new one, by Adele (Hello).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=be12BC5pQLE
This has some really nice rich chords... I love how deep it sounds on the piano!
Merry Christmas! See you next week (on Thursday).
December 13th, 2023
We went over last week's song together, and then Claira added a new song called Spotless by Zach Bryan.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCBSaegGTmk
December 6th, 2023
Claira practised a lot this week! She played the song through for me, and then we added a new one, by Zach Bryan, called Heading South:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkodWQ6EElc
I wrote out inversions for her to help with that, and recommended a way to play it more ballady for piano (since it's a guitar song).
November 29th, 2023
Olivia Rodrigo, Can't Catch Me Now:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbevyR6tMDA
This is a fun one, which is so simple to play - very repetitive, and the right hand and left hand do essentially the same thing over and over.
November 22nd, 2023
We worked more on Deep End, focusing again on the inversions.
November 15th, 2023
We added another song by Birdy today, called Deep End:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuiAWdFaQ8E
We worked through the inversions (it's in D). I encouraged Claira to really put the time into learning them for this song, because it will make a big difference in the future if she memorizes them.
November 8th, 2023
We added a new song - Skinny Love as performed by Birdy:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNzCDt2eidg
It's pretty easy chord-wise, so I encouraged Claira to try to use inversions. We worked through them together in the lesson and I told her I'd keep pushing her! :)
November 1st, 2023
We went over How to Save a Life. Claira had been struggling with the intro especially. We went over it a few times, and I think she started to understand it eventually.
We added a new one, Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga, "Shallow:"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QX6b9lUC_gE
Such a pretty song!
October 25th, 2023
We added "How to Save a Life"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DF0zefuJ4Ys
October 11th, 2023
We went over Tourniquet... Claira did very well on it! The structure of the song was a little hard to follow, but once we got that straightened out, she did very well on it. Great job!
We then added a new one, Zach Bryan, Boys of Faith
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4dmY96F20M
October 4th, 2023
Great job on Angel By the Wings! 10/10! (and it was fun playing bass along with you).
We then added Zach Bryan, Tourniquet: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aR-4za6yG1k
This one has some interesting time signatures, and is in a challenging key. Have fun with it!
September 20th, 2023
We added a new song, Sia, Angel by the Wings. This is an easy one, but it sounds beautiful nonetheless!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SaGSwNP4IN8
We focused on inversions especially for this song, because the song really is enhanced with them. Claira was able to play them right away, and we went through the recording before the end of the lesson.
Amazing job today.
September 13th, 2023
Claira was feeling unsure about Born to Die, but we went through it and she did very well on it. The rhythm was confusing her, but once we listened to it, she picked it right up again.
We then added a new one - pretty challenging, in fact, a Billy Joel song: Vienna.
It's got some new chords (for example, augmented, and sus9).
September 6th, 2023
We added two new songs today,
Hozier, Work Song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMd_2MONOh0
Lana Del Rey, Born to Die:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORnYNaTZGUU
The first one was super easy, so we just focused on Born to Die, and I showed her a rhythmic piano part she could do that sounds a bit like the drum part.
June 28th, 2023
Claira didn't come in today.
June 21st, 2023
Claira played through Complex for me - it sounded really good. She wanted to add a new one, "Set Fire to the Rain" by Adele.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOagQWjKpyM
June 14th, 2023
Today we added a new song, Complex by Katie Gregson-MacLeod:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnZ8m5sxY8I
So pretty, and sad!! :(
Claira is doing well! I sent a synth keyboard link on Reddit that she might use to control her chromebook with her keyboard. She said the sounds in her keyboard make it hard to practise because it doesn't sound quite right.
May 31st, 2023
We continued working on Anyone. We made a video of the intro to help her not forget how the music went together. I also rewrote a bit of it to make it clearer... it was a tad confusing before.
We then added the chords for the verses (which are essentially the same).
I encouraged her to try to sing it too!
May 24th, 2023
Sun to Me: Claira had some challenges remembering the country piano licks, but we went over it a couple of times, before going to a new song, Demi Lovato, Anyone:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jW3aJ-3SEVU
We just concentrated on the intro today, especially at playing the melody that goes with the chords.
May 17th, 2023
Today we continued with Sun To Me, and I taught Claira how to do some "country piano" with little gliss notes etc. She actually is doing so amazing on this style, I think she's destined to be a country piano player!
May 10th, 2023
Claira struggled a bit with Sunday this week, so we went through it a couple of times, and then decided to add another song -- we went through a giant Fake book together hoping to find one, and played through a couple, before settling on Zach Bryan, Sun to Me.
May 3rd, 2023
We went over both of the new songs from last week... I gave Claira a few tips for Fallin' to make it sound more musical - varying the hardness with which she plays each note, rolling up and down like a wave, and using the pedal will help it sound less mechanical.
Daylight sounded great!
We added a new one, by the Cranberries, called Sunday:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1PL_hVxH9M
We didn't finish the song, just went about halfway through.
April 26th, 2023
Claira learned two new songs today:
Alicia Keys, Fallin'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHUADSzCIBA
David Kushner, Daylight
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73E0BnFs7S4
The Daylight song is between two keys actually (F# and F), so we just chose to learn it in F to make it easier.
April 19th, 2023
Claira is doing well on Need You Now... we worked on the melody and left hand of the intro quite a bit, and transitioning from it to the verses. It involves switching hands so the left hand is no longer doing chords, but doing bass notes, and the right hand takes the place of the left hand chords in the same octave.
April 12th, 2023
Claira felt like she wasn't doing well on the last song, The Great Gig In the Sky, but she played through it for me very well, so I think it was just being intimidated a bit by it.
We then added a new oldie, Lady Antebellum, I Need You Now:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eM213aMKTHg
April 5th, 2023
Claira had been practising People Help the People wrong (Using an F# minor instead of an F#,) so it was hard for her to enjoy practising it. I wrote out all the chords by letter for her to help with it, but we also added a new song.
Pink Floyd, The Great Gig in the Sky:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T13se_2A7c8
This is a long and strange song with seemingly random chords, but we wrote it all out and went over it a couple of times.
March 29th, 2023
Clara did a great job on Pricate Eyes - she's a little bored with the song, so we moved on to a new one by Birdy, People Help The People:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmLNs6zQIHo
We didn't write the whole thing out.
March 8th, 2023
March 6th, 2023
We went over Private Eyes a few times, and I showed her an arpeggio part of the song that she wanted to perfect.
I'm gone next week don't forget.
Have a nice March Break!
March 1st, 2023
Claira decided she didn't want to do Just the Way You Are anymore, so we added a new one, from Hall and Oats, "Private Eyes."
This is a new version by Sleeping at Last:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qj1vimmMZEE
It's not too hard, but it's pretty!
February 22nd, 2023
Claira is on a ski-trip this week.
February 15th, 2023
Claira did really well playing through Video Games, and we added a new song by Bruno Mars called "Just The Way You Are:"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKeua0gnLic
This has a repetitive melody thing in the right hand that I wrote out on a staff line for her... it's fun, and easy too!
Keep it up, see you in two weeks!
February 8th, 2023
Claira played through her songs for me, and we added a new one, Video Games by Lana Del Rey:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDuiLXs5qR4&ab_channel=TikTokSongs
Pretty, slow piano part... perfect for her next song!
You're doing great Claira, keep it up!
February 1st, 2023
Claira did really well on Stay, by Rihanna. She's going to stop working on Diamonds, because it doesn't have much piano in it.
I suggested Talking to the Moon by Bruno Mars, and we worked through it a few times.
See you next week! Good job!
January 25th, 2023
Today we added two new songs:
Rihanna, Diamonds:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sR4UYZPhTXY
Rihanna, Stay:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxcRq1M_HtU
January 18th, 2023
Claira played through Iris for me, first on her own, and then with the recording. It was a bit of a challenge for her to stay in time, and so we talked about timing, and listening to the drums to lock into the right speed.
The issue is that the song was in 6/8 and she's more comfortable with 4.4 - it will just be something to work on.
We also talked about how to do the inversions in the solo part, and the timing of the hits part.
January 11th, 2023
Claira start a new song today that she heard on the cruise, by Goo Goo Dolls called Iris:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYrEL9ecAWA
It's got some fun hits in it and an instrumental that will take some playing around with.
January 4th, 2023
Hi guess the Nelders are away! :) Have a great time!
December 28th, 2022
Claira must have forgotten today. :) See you next week!
December 21st, 2022
Claire and I went over her Another Love song... it's really challenging, but it's fun! We made a video of me playing it really slowly so she can watch how I do it to get a sense of the timing (which is the hard part of it, really).
December 14th, 2022
Claira was struggling with all the flats and new chords in the Big Black Car song, so we added another, this one by Tom Odell, Another Love:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jkj36B1YuDU
Really pretty song, and a good chance to work on some rhythm and only a few new chords.
See you next week!
December 7th, 2022
We worked on the middle part of Piano Man, and then added a new song, Big Black Car:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgumMOMHpns&list=RDJgumMOMHpns
Keep learning Piano Man, and try to get it smooth and continuous. :)
November 30th, 2022
I guess my notes for Claira didn't get saved, so typing again from what I can remember.
We used the lesson time to work through inversions again, because Claira was having some trouble with knowing which way to go. The big idea is to try to only change one or two notes between chords if possible... one finger stays where it was, the others change. This obviously isn't always possible, but it makes for a smoother, less chunky style of playing.
November 23rd, 2022
We went through Piano Man together, and talked more about inversions, which Claira was just a little unclear on.
We went through a few inversions together, and I showed her an exercise she can do to play inversions up and down the piano for any particular chord. I recommended that she make that part of her regular practising until she can do them without thinking.
She picked them up extraordinarily quickly - usually students struggle much more to comprehend them.
Great job!
November 16th, 2022
Today we went through Easy On Me, and then added a new one, Billy Joel Piano Man.
This week please try to work on the inversions for each chord- this means you're changing as few fingers as possible between chords so that your whole hand doesn't move around... just change the fingers that are different, but keep playing the same fingers / notes that are shared between chords.
See you next week!
November 9th, 2022
We went over her songs together... we had trouble connecting this week about the chart for Easy On Me, but I printed out a copy for her and we went through it together.
Adele, Easy On Me:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-yIEMduRXk&ab_channel=AdeleVEVO
We also went through I See Red, and I reminded her of some ways to make it not as boring to play (or listen to)... using the pedal, adding other notes between chords, doubling the left hand, are a few things she can do.
November 2nd, 2022
Claira didn't have the right book, so we decided to add a new song, and added two, Easy on Me by Adele was the second one, and I'll be sending a chart of that later.
The first one was I See Red by Everybody Loves an Outlaw
UPDATE: I just finished the chart for Claira... I didn't get her cell number (she was going to text me?) but she should be able to login and get it now.
October 26th, 2022
Great job today! This week work on getting both hands on Grenade, and add the sevenths on When I Was Your Man.
(remember, the seventh note, or down two half steps from the name of the chord).
Here's the looper site I was telling you about, Looper.tube
https://www.looper.tube/?v=qBplTL43ZNk&s=64.5&e=77.6&spd=.85
October 19th, 2022
Claira did well on When I Was Your Man, and added another one so she has something else to practice.
We added Bruno Mars, Grenade:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFQGgJmjQYk&ab_channel=AuthenticMusic
This gave us the opportunity to talk about inversions and arpeggios. She will use them in the verses to this song.
Good job! Claira is making really fast progress!
October 12th, 2022
Keep working on Ocean Eyes, trying to get a bit faster.
All Of Me is good - let's move on to the new one now...
We added When I Was Your Man, by Bruno Mars:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZrDuMcGRqU&ab_channel=MusicParadise
October 5th, 2022
Claira did well on Ocean Eyes, but the chords and notes have to go a bit faster, so she's going to work on it some more.
We also added a new song for her to work on, John Legend, All of Me:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=450p7goxZqg&ab_channel=johnlegendVEVO
We transposed it to C.
September 28th, 2022
We went through Twinkle together. Clara is going to keep practising it.
We added a new one by Billie Eilish, called Ocean Eyes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viimfQi_pUw&ab_channel=BillieEilish
I wrote out the music for her.
September 21st, 2022
Claira is doing very well! We went through the songs so far, and I introduced her to chords for the Twinkle Twinkle song.
We explained the difference between major and minor chords, and how to recognize them with the 2 or 3 notes between the first and third fingers.
I showed her arpeggios, where you alternate through the fingers -- in this instance 1-3-5-3 1-3-5-3
Try doing this with Twinkle Twinkle.
September 14th, 2022
Claira did really well today. She played the songs we wrote out and I gave her some direction on fingerings so that it didn't get awkward and tangled with thumbs and pinkies, etc.
I wrote out Twinkle Twinkle Little Star for her and we went through it a few times too, talking about fingerings.
Then we added the G scale, and I explained whole tons and half tones, and the order they go in (W,W,H,W,W,W,H)
September 7th, 2022
Today was Claira's first lesson.
We started out with learning the D and the G positions on the keyboard, and reviewing some basic theory regarding notes, sharps, and flats.
I wrote out two beginner songs for her to work on this week: Mary Had a Little Lamb, and Row, Row, Row, Your Boat.
Work on those songs this week, and also think through a few songs you'd like to learn to play.
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